Ashamed of what happened, says Luthra brother as remand extended in Goa fire case

The police custody of Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra, owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub where a deadly fire claimed 25 lives earlier this month, has been extended by four more days by a court in Mapusa.

As the brothers were escorted to the court with their faces covered, one of them told reporters, “I am ashamed of what has happened,” expressing remorse over the incident.

The Judicial First Class Magistrate (JFMC) court accepted the police’s plea for extended custody, with the next hearing scheduled for December 29.

Advocate Parag Gaonkar, who is representing the Luthra brothers, said the defence did not strongly oppose the remand extension as his clients were cooperating with investigators.

“They had to justify the basis for remand and they gave it to the judge. We did not seriously oppose it as my clients want to cooperate with the investigation. So now they’ll be reproduced before the court on December 29,” Gaonkar said.

He also argued that the incident was “site specific”, but added that his clients were offering their full cooperation.

“This is an incident which was site specific, like they weren’t even in Goa. And the general managers and others have been in custody for so long, but still my clients are there and offering full cooperation,” he said.

Earlier, on December 17, a Goa court had sent the Luthra brothers to five days of police custody after they were brought to the state from Delhi. The duo was arrested after being deported from Thailand, where they had fled shortly after the December 6 blaze at the nightclub in North Goa’s Arpora area.

The fire killed four tourists and 21 employees. According to the FIR, the nightclub was operating in violation of mandatory fire safety norms and had organised a fire show without adequate safety equipment.

The brothers are facing charges of culpable homicide and negligence. Investigators have alleged that they had “ultimate control over the operation, safety arrangements, permissions and events conducted at the premises.”

A Delhi court had earlier denied the brothers pre-arrest bail, describing the allegations as “grave and serious” and noting that their decision to book tickets to Phuket within an hour of the fire indicated an attempt to “evade the legal process.”

- Ends

(With inputs from Ritesh Desai)

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